Worlds Apart
by Buwaro
Summary: A darker fic based in the ANI series, written for Anomaly's anniversary. Eve and Mew traverse a dark forest, infested with horrific creatures born of nightmare, the Shadows; and Celebi too.
1. Worlds Apart

I should probably warn you, this thing is much, much darker than Anomaly, or the rest of what is called the ANI universe, combined. And, later on, it'll be a fair bit more gorey too. So not for the faint hearted.

Although it is using Eve, Aeris' character, it is technically not set in Anomaly at all. Infact, you could call it an alternate universe. Because it is, and it's canon. Because this Mew, is the one known as Anti. And this is his story.

**Anomaly Anniversary Fic- Act One - Worlds Apart**

Hiking was, without a doubt, one of the most boring things in existence. All there was, in every direction, was more trees. Trees of all kinds. Not even Trainers went this far into the wilderness, there was no easy prey for their Pokéballs. There was no prey at all, for that matter... Red eyes glanced around at the surroundings, not making out any life beyond that of trees, grass and the occasional berry plant.

"_Where is all the wildlife?_" Eve 'muttered', her telepathy not directed at anyone at all, which is why she nearly jumped out of her fur when she got a reply.

"Probably saw your face."

Eve spun, hands instinctively moving to put a barrier between her and the speaker, in both a physical and psychic sense. The barrier lowered as instantly as it rose as she scowled down at the figure that she'd stepped over, how had she missed him? In that bright pink shirt, pale skin and baby blue eyes looking up at her, he should have stood out like... well, like a human in the middle of a forest in the middle of nowhere!

"You really should stop complaining about being bored, then you'd see a lot more," the Human smirked as he got up, placing the familiar brown hat, one that he had 'borrowed' from a costume of some movie character, some Indiana whatsit, back upon his head.

"_Mew, what have I told you about sneaking up on me?! And get out of my mind._"

"Aww, but it's so nice and roomy in there."

Eve just stared, unblinking, at him. It took five seconds; it always took five seconds, before his gaze wavered. He looked down at his shoes, although they were closer to sandals with the amount of wear and tear they had suffered.

"Fine, I'll get out." he muttered after yet another five seconds. Ten seconds to break him.

"_And stay out!_"

"I promise nothing," there was that smirk, visible under the rim of his hat, as he started walking ahead of her, shouldering his leathery jacket, and backpack as he went. That was the reason for his Human form, it made travelling slightly easier, especially considering the dark rings that surrounded both of his eyes, eyes that sparkled with life yet still seemed to radiate with a tiredness that had appeared ever since Mewtwo had...

Eve shook her head; thinking about it wasn't going to help, as she ran to catch up. Thinking about it only made her unhappy, which seemed to upset Mew more than losing Mewtwo did. Her 'brother' was whistling some tune to himself, what he told her earlier was the theme of the guy he stole the hat from.

"_Where'd you go earlier?_" Maybe a conversation would distract her from the boredom of the trees all around her.

"Flame's got involved in some crap in Johto."

"_Ah..._" There was no need to ask further, the mere name of that lizard said more than enough.

There was a minute of silence, an awkward choking silence that caused Eve to say anything, anything at all, just to get rid of it.

"_Why are we out here?_" Wow, for once she'd blurted out a question that wasn't silly. That fact seemed to amaze both of the psychics.

"Well..." Mew slowly turned to look her straight in the eye, having to look up thanks to his height being slightly smaller, before his blue eyes turned crimson as he gave a toothy smile, his canines becoming pointier, and growled, "_so I could feast on your soul!_"

Eve blinked.

"_Can you even do that?_"

"Sorta," his features returned to their normal state, their normal _Human_ state, "Dream Eater, if overdone, could turn someone into a mindless drone, nothing more than a soulless shell.'Course, only really powerful pure-psychics can use it to that degree. And you'd need to be sleeping. But, yeah, I could eat your soul."

"_Okay..._"

"I had someone try to do it to me once, not a nice feeling. Like being flushed down the toilet... never doing that again either," Mew mused, before returning to his whistling, resorting to telepathy to keep on talking, "_Come on Eve, if you're bored then you should join in!_"

He had to be joking, right? "_Not on your life._"

"_Come on, I'll make it worth your while._"

Eve stared across at him, even as he unslung his rucksack and started rummaging through it. Then, he did actually pull out something that had a chance of getting her to listen to him. A bag of fresh, she knew that much from the scent wafting through the air, doughnuts. He removed one and took a bite, humming in-between chews.

"_Mmm, shugary!_" She didn't even want to know why even his telepathy sounded like he had his mouth full...

"_Nice try._" There was no way in hell he was going to bribe her with those.

"_I got one wish stra'berry jam!_"

"_No. Not going to work._"

"_Oooooh, Cheri..._"

"_Nope. You are not getting me to whistle and that is final!_"

"_Whipped cream?_" He pulled out a can of the stuff from his bag.

That was it, Eve snapped, grabbing the can and launching a spray of cream straight into her brother's face. As he was blinded, wiping away the cream from his eyes, she made off with the doughnuts and sat a little way off, on a rather large tree stump, eating them.

"That wasn't nice," Mew frowned when he'd gotten the worst of it gone, psychically removing the rest.

"_Since when have you ever played nice and fair? I'm just following your lead._" Eve smirked, managing to mimic his speech patterns from earlier, "_mmm shugary._"

"Those are my doughnuts!" He stamped his foot; much like a child would, causing Eve to cock an eyebrow at him.

"_Not anymore._"

He whimpered slightly, tears building... Eve frowned, since when was that a legal tactic for the eldest of the group, only the youngest one was supposed to do that!

"_Fine. Here._" She lobbed over the last two of the doughnuts in the packet, Mew scrambling forwards and catching them, ripping open the packaging and munching away like he was a two year old who'd been given candy. "_Do you ever act your age?_"

"_No idea, how are six-thousand year olds supposed to act?_" Damn, he had her on that one... Wait a sec.

"_You're six thousand years old?!_" She nearly dropped her, nearly-finished, doughnut in shock.

"_Rounded down, yeah. I think it's actually six-thousand, two-hundred and thirty eight, give or take a decade or so._" Mew shrugged slightly, "_it's because, once we reach a certain age, our power has grown enough that it can stop us aging further. So we're essentially immortal, barring accidents..._" He paused, looking away.

Eve knew what he was thinking, it was obvious. That 'accident' that had befallen Mewtwo... He needed a distraction before he got too upset... so she just shovelled the rest of the doughnut in, not even bothering to chew, before swallowing. The resulting coughing fit was more than enough to startle Mew out of his emo-fest. He raced over, yanking a bottle of water out of his pack, which she grabbed in order to guzzle it down and clear her airways.

"Better?" He gave a smile, which made her wonder if she should be the one asking him the question. It was still a rather empty smile, but it was better than the nearly invisible ones she had been getting in the months before.

"_A little._"

"Well, I'll give you a minute to catch your breath before we should start moving again. I want to get through this damn forest as fast as possible."

"_Why don't we fly over it? It'd be a lot more direct than having to weave through trees._"

"It's been three days, and you've only now just asked that?" He actually looked genuinely amused, "well, because I don't want to risk being spotted."

"_By what? All that is out here is trees!_" She swept her hand to the side to guesture to the surrounding area, an attempt to prove her point.

"I've been hit by a tree before, while in midair. It wasn't fun. Besides, there is usually some wildlife in a forest. Some Pokemon, but we haven't even seen a weedle."

"_And for that I am eternally grateful. Weedle give me the creeps._"

Mew just gave her a blank stare, before he gave one of the first warm smiles he'd given off in weeks. And then the hiking started again.

"_You really six thousand?_"

"Yup. Saw humanity grow. Been in just about every war going, got married to a princess a couple of centuries back."

"_You're full of it._"

"No, really. There was a party and everything, got the portrait to prove it. Lovely woman, if a bit overly formal. Can't remember her name though... 'Course, when she died and I was still kicking around, they thought I was a witch and tried to get me hung. Probably because I did use telekinesis a lot back then... a lot of people had that ability, and were killed for it, so the reason that psychic power is so rare in Humans is because there weren't many people left with the ability after all the torture and murder and crap. So it wasn't passed on to as many kids."

"_That... is disgusting._"

"Humans have their good sides. That was just a bad time in their history. It was better before, especially for me. I used to get offerings of food and ceremonial booze. Entire civiliations built around worshipping me."

"_So that's where you got the ego from._"

"Oh very fun-"

Mew stopped, Eve stopping right behind him. She knew the signs by then, the way even his arms were still, fingers not even twitching. If he still had his tail, which was a weird mental image in itself, even that wouldn't have moved, as he focused completely on his surroundings. She could feel the slight tingle in the air, the psychic pulse feeling around for a single sign of trouble.

"_Mew?_" She whispered. Whenever he did that, it usually involved running from something. Usually something that wanted to eat them, or shoot them, or a strange combination of the two. She'd rather know what to expect this time.

"Can you feel it? In the air?" Mew whispered back. What was that supposed to mean? All she could feel was that psychic aura that he was giving... wait a sec, it didn't seem to be coming from him at all. Now that she knew that, it was obvious to her what the differences were. It was a harder, edgier aura. And, if she could feel it, then the producer of it could also feel them.

"_Uh oh._"

"Yeah, my thoughts exactly... well, mine are ruder. Like a big flashing siren going 'oh bollocks' over and over. Methinks it's running time now."

"_What if it isn't hostile?_" Which was true, a few times it had just been a kit or something who'd wandered off from the nest. The psychic aura was rather unfocused, it reminded her an awfull lot of what hers used to be like. So it was entirely possible that the owner of the pulse was a newborn.

Then Mew knocked her to the floor as a series of purple glowing spikes slammed into the bark of the tree, passing through exactly where her head had been. She landed on her tail, having to fight back a particularly rude curse at the jarring sensation. Why was it always the tail?

"I think that counts it as hostile!" Mew yelled, scrambling to his feet, grabbing his hat from where it had fallen, while simultaneously hauling her to her feet. She didn't need telling twice, levitating slightly off of the floor to avoid tripping on roots and they both shot off through the trees.

High speed flight in a forest was rather exhilarating, having to weave around trees and avoid lower branches. Problem was, it was also dangerous. But not quite as dangerous as flying above the treetops, Mew'd been shot down before like that. Mew, despite being on the ground, was still keeping up with her, vaulting over large tree roots and berry bushes while keeping tabs on the thing following them. It was easy to track the attacker's movements as it smashed through the undergrowth.

"_What the hell is it?!_"

"What makes you think I know!?" Mew yelled right back, just as they reached the tip of the psychic aura, beyond the range of their attacker's ability to sense them.

A few more minutes running before Mew called a halt, panting for breath. Eve wasn't that tired, but the Legendary's Human body couldn't keep going at high speeds for anywhere near as long as she could. Even then, she could see his eyes searching the surroundings for a sign of another attack. Instead, he stared, his gasping for air stopping cold, at a large, oddly shaped boulder that was between two great trees, the plants parted away, almost like they were avoiding it... Then Eve spotted the cracks in the rock, seeping a brown liquid. Then she spotted it moving, slow and deep breaths... It wasn't a rock. Rocks were not alive. This thing was, just.

"...Okay, I think I just figured out what shot at us," Mew managed to choke out, Eve actually letting herself feel fear when she heard that same feeling in Mew's voice as he spoke to the wounded Pokemon. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."

The rock twitched, just once, before it started to move. It had fallen in the soft soil, limbs buried underneath it's massive weight. Limbs that now freed themselves as it pushed itself up, despite the fact that its back was seeping with blood. Was it blood? It was the wrong colour, almost as if it was stained by an outside force.

"Eve..." Mew muttered, she glanced across in time to catch the hat that he had slung at her. "Hold onto that and run. Head for the mountain range," he guestured in the direction they had been going,

"_What?_" She didn't get it, why would Mew what her to run, even as the behemoth reached its full height, managing to tower over the two. There was a name for Pokemon like that... Rhydon, she thought it was. But, there was something iffy about this one. Not only was it completely ignoring the wounds it had picked up, but the rocky hide on its stomach was a dark purple, its eyes crimson... it scared her.

"Go!" Mew yelled, Eve stumbling away as she felt herself pushed by her brother's psychic abilities, even as the Rhydon stared him down.

Then it charged, the trees in its path buckling under its collosal might, Mew not moving even as Eve scrambled to fight through the psychic barrier and push him out of its path. Then there was that familiar white light, one that grew bigger and bigger untill it matched the Rhydon in size, just as it hit. The light blinked out, leaving another Pokemon standing where Mew had been, great green arms catching the Rhydon's claws in midswing even as it was pushed back by the sheer force of the charge, tearing great grooves into the earth in an attempt to keep upright.

The Tyranitar, Mew, managed to get enough grip and threw the Rhydon off of him, trees being smashed and splintered as the great behemoth crashed into them. And yet, despite that, it still got up, a deep growling sending shivers through her body.

"What are you waiting for?!" Mew yelled, his voice deeper and darker than she had ever heard it before as he didn't take his eyes off of the rising Rhydon, "Get moving! I'll be fine, I'll catch up in ten minutes, easy!"

There was no arguing with him, not as the Rhydon charged again, so she turned to flee, only to stop as Mew called out one last time.

"Eve... Don't you dare drop my hat!" He cracked, even as the Rhydon hit him full in the stomach, knocking him down, only to be flung overhead in the process.

"_Be careful!_" Eve called over her shoulder, clutching the dusty hat in her arms as she shot through the trees, the sound of earth and wood tearing itself apart behind her slowly fading... Stupid, why had she ran? Surely she would be more use there, her Ice Beam would rip through a Rhydon, Mewtwo had taught her that much. But... that one. It had looked so different, those burning eyes... the vivid mental image of them caused her to shudder uncontrollably for several seconds before she had recovered enough to continue running.

She wondered, could Mew handle it? The Rhydon was beaten up pretty badly yet didn't even seem to notice. There was a piercing scream from behind her, her ears straining to hear it better, to try and find out who had screamed...

The area of forest, what had previously been filled with trees, was now more of a clearing. The wooden watchers of the woods had been knocked down and crushed, the earth torn up by great claws and sweeping tails. Mew felt the scales covering his lower torso being stained with crimson as he fought back another yell, the Rhydon ramming into his stomach again and again.

It took every scrap of strength that Mew possessed to push the Rhydon back, the horn imbedded in his lower stomach slowly being yanked free even as he took blows to the sides from the flailing arms. With another loud yell, he threw the Rhydon back, sending it crashing through an old oak tree, the wood not even standing a chance against the blow as splinters flew everywhere. And yet it still got back up, still going strong even as Mew weakened. The wounds from before had even healed up, further confirming to Mew what he had feared.

A Shadow... The Rhydon had become one of the most feared creatures in existence. A being that healed so fast that they could regrow an arm in an hour, a being that couldn't feel pain... couldn't, wouldn't stop untill one of them died. Or, if Mew had put up enough of a fight...

"No... I am not turning into one of you!" He let loose a roar, even as it felt as though his stomach was tearing in two. Then the Rhydon charged again, Mew's form no longer being able to withstand the brutal impact and his transformation reversed.

A sweep of the Rhydon's massive clawed fist send the psychic kitten crashing to the ground, his pink fur stained with dirt and blood. His wound was still there, albet shrunken to fit with his new size, still leaking blood that he couldn't afford to lose. He didn't have the power to keep on going much longer, if he recovered then he'd be too weak to fight... but if he didn't...

"I've got nothing to lose," he gasped out, his voice no more than a whisper, as his tail started flicking, a minute movement every half second.

The Rhydon charged forwards again, brute force the only thing it's infected mind could allow it. Then, the flicking stopped, after exactly five seconds, as Mew clapped his paws together, his eyes glowing a pure white. Every little shred of power inside him swirled and shifted, before settling on a technique... The pink kitten glowed bright green, along with the surroundings, just as the Rhydon hit.

It found itself held back, one mighty paw by Mew, the other by his tail, as the glowing kitten smirked as the light got stronger still.

"I got lucky. Giga Drain!" Was the great yell, green orbs of pure energy being pulled from the surroundings, and a near endless supply from the Rhydon itself, all being absorbed into the broken Mew, his wounds fading away and his tiredness with it.

Then he shot up into the air, the green glow fading apart from on his tail, as he whipped it around. The 'Leaf Blade' hit its mark, the Rhydon letting out a roar as its throat was sliced straight through. Yet the cut would heal in a few seconds, no where near long enough to kill the Rhydon. Yet Mew used the momentary weakness to get to where its heart would be, placing his paws on the great armour. He had an ability much like Celebi, able to purify Shadows. But, unlike the fairy, his wasn't refined enough. It reopened wounds inflicted during the rampage, effectively killing whoever it was used on.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," Mew repeated, over and over, as he released the built up power, the discoloured armour returning to its usual shade as the Rhydon roared, pain finally starting to register. Mew could feel its agony, which made keeping the purification going that much harder, as the gashes along its back and throat reopened and its blood crimson once more. The roar softened, weakened, before stopping completely, as the Rhydon crumpled to the floor. Mew had to fight back tears, he always did when he had to murder, because that is what it was when they turned back into their normal selves. "I wish there was another way..."

Then he froze, that pulse was back, those shadowy tendrils... and it was close now. So very close. So close, in fact, it was right on the edge of the newfound clearing. Mew slowly turned, just as it ripped through the last of the foliage. Its purple and black carapice shining in the light, not because it was reflective but because of the sap... the blood of trees, mixed in with real, crimson blood. The great spider's hollow glare locked straight onto Mew, as it opened it's mouth, great fangs that glistened with poison made its intentions all too clear.

"Oh shit..."

-**To Be Continued**-


	2. All Consuming Shadow

There, I finally finished this damn thing... Of course, the reason it was so damned tricky was because of the events in the last half. Still, I got it done, now I just have to work on Act Three... which'll probably be around easter, knowing how lazy I can be with these things.

**Anomaly Anniversary Fic - Act Two - All Consuming Shadow**

Eve was tired, she'd been running for ten minutes, solid, and still no sign of Mew. She was beginning to wonder if not turning back had been a good idea after all, just as the tree right beside her exploded, sending splinters carreening towards her. She, instinctively, moved to cover her face with her arms, completely forgetting about the fact that a barrier would have stopped the entire thing. Luckily, a wave of fire passed straight by her, a tiny lick of flame catching her arm, as it caught the wooden projectiles and completely incinerated them. A blast of compressed water, one that pulsed along its stream, followed after, putting out the blaze that the first attack had caused before it could spread into a forest fire.

Then something big, white and black, and rather furry, collided with her stomach and knocked her to the floor. The creature, she couldn't recognize the species, pushed itself back to its feet, shaking its head as its deep red eyes focused, before locking on to her own. She tried to blast it off, especially as it opened its mouth and revealed very lethal looking teeth, but it just shrugged off the psychic assault as though it was nothing.

"Ah... Sorry 'bout that, but it was either be blasted into you, or let the tree kill you when that signal beam hit it," the dark type spoke, tensing its legs and Eve felt a moment's pang of fear as those claws dug into her chest slightly, but it was only the Pokemon leaping off of her, "you're gonna want to run!"

"_From what?_" The question came out before she could stop it.

As did the answer. From another tree, there was a brief pulse of that sinister psychic force, before the web of green leaves was ripped away by four rather spindly looking legs, while their owner used its other four to tense itself up, ready to spring. It was, without a doubt, the ickiest bug she had ever seen. Her breath caught, her chest hurt even as her heart when overtime, even as she scrambled back. The purple armour actually reminded her of Mewtwo's tail, while the black and crimson seemed to fit an old story... something from back then. Something told around halloween, a way to scare children. Tales of the most vicious and deadly creatures in the world, rivalling even the most potent legendary in power.

And it was staring right at her throat, fangs bared, as it sprung into the air. There was no time to escape, no time to attack. Not that it mattered, even the thunderbolt that the dark type fired was not enough to even slow the Ariados down as it reached the apex of its leap

But something else did. There was the sound of tearing wood, of screaming bark, just as the spider desended. A thick oak came flying over Eve's head, the side of the mighty tree slamming into the creature and smashing it straight into the ground. The dark type spun around, evidently expecting another attack, even as Eve allowed herself to relax, she knew only one person who could pull off stunts like that, right up untill she saw the state of her savoir. She jerked upright in shock, not caring when she jarred her tail.

"_Mew? What the fuck happened to you?!_"

Back in his human form, yet barely recognizable. The clothing was ripped to shreds, it was amazing that his trousers were still on him at all, as his shirt finally gave up and just fell apart. The owner of the clothes was not much better off, covered in welts, cuts and scrapes. There was a massive tear in his forehead, staining the left side of his face crimson, even as those baby blue eyes stared through the veil of blood. They definitely belonged to Mew, the old Mew, as they burned with an intensity not seen since before Team Rocket caught him... Yet, they still seemed vacant, and that scared Eve infinitely more than the fact he was torn up so much.

"That won't stop it. I can't stop it. I'm not strong enough..."

"You don't have to be strong..." the black and white creature spoke as it stepped, limping slightly, over to one of the torn up bushes. Dust and dirt seemed to be whipped up by a wind, even Eve's hair flickered as the wind swirled around to creature, before it all seemed to focus fowards.

"Razor Wind!" He cried, ripping through the plantation and revealing what was hidden inside. A brown satchel, a type of bag schoolkids would sometimes use, Eve remembered... but why would a Pokemon have one? There couldn't be books in it, something with no digits wouldn't be able to use one very well... yet the canine Pokemon hooked the bag strap with its bladed horn, flicking his head and effectively throwing it in Mew's direction. The bag opened on landing, but it was facing Mew so Eve couldn't see inside... but whatever was in there, it seemed to get rid of that desperation in Mew's eyes. They were alive again.

"Now that should just about do it."

Mew grabbed the satchel, swinging it over his shoulder, before taking one look at her and the canine, it was to this Pokemon that Mew spoke, "Absol, take Eve and get moving in that direction," he nodded deeped into the forest.

"I have a name, you know," the 'Absol' said, even as he turned to follow Mew's instructions.

"Tell me it later, I'll catch up with you," Mew was smiling again, even as blood ran down his face. That cheerfull smile that said everything was going to be okay... so, this time, Eve didn't hesitate, she followed the Absol and trusted that Mew knew what he was doing.

---

Mew didn't have a clue what he was doing. He was standing there, out in the open, waiting for a Shadow Pokemon, one that had practically beaten him to a pulp earlier, to get back up. And he didn't have to wait long, the tree he had flattened it with exploded into splinters, Mew not even covering his eyes as a barrier stopped the wooden needles. The Ariados, or what used to be an Ariados, climbed back to its feet and turned to face him.

"Round 2, and I'm ready for you this time, you freaky, ugly, bugheaded bastard!"

Even though it no longer understood the concept of insults and smacktalk, the fact Mew was alive was more than enough to incite the spider to attack. It leapt forwards, fangs ready... and was caught. Mew jammed his arm into the creature's mouth, behind those lethal teeth. Having to reinforce his limbs with a barrier to prevent it smashing the bone into pieces, Mew didn't have the energy to waste any time, so he used his free hand to reach into the satchel and pull out a small electronic device... or, at least, a small electronic device attached to a lot of explosives.

He hit the timer, sixty seconds appearing on the clock, as he grinned, even as the barrier preventing the spider from devouring is arm started to splinter.

"Lunch time!" Mew grinned, pointy teeth fully visible as he yanked his arm out of the Shadow's mouth, forcing the device in instead, straight down its throat, before he gave it a kick with what little energy he had left, which was still more than enough to send it flying back into the undergrowth...

So now the second part of his hastily constructed plan came into play, Mew turned and ran like all hell, only slowing to scoop up his hat where Eve had dropped it. The spider was on his tail practically instantly, the psychic having to keep having to duck under volleys of those poison darts it was firing. And yet he kept going, racing through the forest, tearing through low branches and throwing whole trees into the Shadow's path. And then he caught up with Eve and the Absol...

"I told you two to move!" Mew yelled as he shot towards them, grabbing Eve by the hand and dragging her behind him, the Absol rocketing after them with speed that only a quadraped could pull off. "and I definitely meant move fast!"

With Eve behind him, Mew couldn't go at full speed, and the spider was rapidly gaining... it had her in its sight, opening it's maw to launch a volley of lethal Poison Sting... and then, there was a beep coming from deep inside it. The Ariados' armour couldn't withstand the explosion, the shockwave blowing it to pieces, most of the blast being channeled down its throat, meeting those charged darts it was about to fire, and propelling them through the air towards Eve, who was too stunned by the explosion to dodge.

The darts struck flesh, sinking through white fur... thick white fur. Eve opened her eyes, even as the Absol crumpled to the floor, the darts imbedded in his back. Eve couldn't believe it... it wasn't possible.

"_You... took the shot for me._"

"Wouldn't be the first time I took a shot... not in my line of work anyway," he laughed, even as his voice grew weaker and he was unable to push himself up more than a few inches.

"It will be-" Mew paused, hesitating, "it will be the last time you get to."

Eve stared at her brother, not quite believing it. Three little darts couldn't cause that much damage...

"It's not the poison, is it?" the Absol asked, even as his eyes started to lose their focus. "I've seen what..." he had to pause and catch his breath, "what those things can do."

"Your body is strong, the Shadow energy'll mutate you. Turn you into one of them..." Mew sighed, all that energy from before, all his light, was gone just as suddenly as it had appeared.

"_They can do that?!_"

"That's why I took the shot..." the Absol paused again, his voice becoming even weaker, "if it had hit one of you... it would have..."

"Yeah," Mew piped up, flatly.

Eve backed up, not quite believing what she was hearing. If that thing had gotten her, she'd have ended up like that? Like some soulless, bloodthirsty monster? She looked across at where the Shadow had been before, staring at the empty space, trying to get her head around the nightmare... she was only brought back to the real world when the Absol's voice piped up once more.

"I want to die."

Eve spun back, this was wrong! No one could say that... and yet, neither of them seemed to notice just what he had said.

"Death is better than..." the dark type muttered, having to stop, his breath becoming laboured.

"Than being one of them." Mew slowly nodded, "I know."

"_You can't give up! Mew can do something!_"

"Eve!" Mew practicaly yelled, glaring across at her for half a second before his gaze lowered, his voice dropping with it, to naught more than a whisper, "I can't... I can't heal that, even if I was stronger... there are some wounds beyond even my power."

He turned back to the Absol, leaned down and place his hand upon his head... Eve could see a small tear running down the psychic's face, seeing it brought some to her own eyes and she turned away. She couldn't watch. She wouldn't watch.

"You never told us your name," Mew said, slowly, finally. The Absol's dark type immunity was cracking, fading, as the Shadow essence started to spread through his body...

"My name is... Dione." The Absol gasped out, before Mew's hand tensed up, the psychic concentrating. In the Absol's mind, there was no regret, no indecision... just acceptance of his fate.

"I'm sorry."

---

Eve closed her eyes against the purple glow coming from over her shoulder. She wanted to pretend she was somewhere else, somewhere far away. But even her mind held no refuge against the knowledge of what was going on behind her, as the glow slowly faded to naught. She tensed up as a hand gingerly placed itself on her shoulder.

"_Get off of me!_" She growled, both with physically and telepathically.

"Eve..." Mew's voice was empty, yet it did nothing bar stoke her rising anger.

"_You killed him._" She hissed, "_you didn't even try to help him. He saved me and you just executed him!_"

The grip on her shoulder tightened, untill it was starting to hurt.

"I know." Now his voice was shaking slightly, threatening to crack, "but there was nothing I could do. Trying to heal him would have killed him, it would have ripped him apart from the inside out..."

"_So you killed him!_" She spun, pulling back a fist and swinging at him, managing to catch herself at the sight of Dione, immobile, with his eyes closed. He looked... so weak, yet so peaceful. That it it, she couldn't stop the tears anymore.

Mew let her go and turned away, stepping over to the dead Absol, removing the hat from his head and placing it on Dione's. "I always have to see this... I always see good people die and am unable to change anything... I'm a Legendary, ancestor to the first Pokemon, and I-" There was a loud scream coming from further up the path, Eve's fur standing on end even as Mew's eyes narrowed as he stood, "...Eve."

"_No. You are not ditching me like you usually do!_"

"I was going to tell you to duck."

She didn't even need to think about it. Mew's tone had been flat, stern, business-like... it sounded like _his_ voice. And she ducked, just as a black furred creature came shooting over her head, growling as it opened its maw and sank teeth into Mew's arm.

"_What the hell!?_" Eve shot upright, trying to yank the Pokemon free, finding her psychic abilities useless... then she spotted the golden rings. An Umbreon, another dark type.

"Not quite the way I'd phrase it..." Mew gasped as the Eon sank its teeth even deeper, tearing the one limb that wasn't already bleeding. "_and the rest were just starting to heal too._" he thought, lifting the attacked arm, the Umbreon still attached, before swinging it out to the side.

The Umbreon's jaws couldn't stay locked around a moving target, so it slipped loose, fangs tearing through flesh in the process, and landed on its feet... it was then that Mew realised just who it was.

"Should have figured... the Rhydon I had to kill was with you." He looked around, "where's the Ninjask?"

"You bastard!" The Umbreon practically hissed, Eve feeling like she knew this creature from somewhere... even as said creature stared down Mew, who was ignoring his wounded arm.

"Esteria, I didn't have a choice." Even the name sounded familiar. But where from? It was somewhere in her memory, Eve was sure of it, but she couldn't figure out where from... Her memory was foggy.

"You killed him!" The Umbreon hissed, taking a step closer, forcing Mew to back away from her very sharp teeth.

"He asked me too!" Mew growled, letting his form revert back to his usual pink body. Wait... that Rhydon had attacked, it had been crazed, it wouldn't have asked to die... The Umbreon was pissed about Dione! Eve actually decided to leave Mew for a bit, he deserved a little beating up for what he had done...

Shapeshifting was usually a grand, intimidating guesture. But, tore up as Mew was, it didn't have the intended effect and the crazed Umbreon just fired a Shadow Ball into his face, sending the kitten crashing into the dirt, his long tail falling limp. Now Eve made to move, it wasn't the beating she wanted... it was nasty. This Esteria had knocked Mew unconscious and was advancing towards him with a snarl, her rings pulsing slightly with each step.

"_Enough!_" Eve raised her hands to fire an Ice Beam at the dark type, but she found herself stopping short as a buzzing sounded out from behind her and something very sharp pressed up against her neck...

"Ninjask, hold her!" There was that voice that brough a growl to Eve's throat. That condencing, mocking, cold tone of that bitch... now she remembered where she'd heard the name Esteria, back when she had been first created.

Whip in hand, Jianna stepped into the clearing. If it wasn't for the threat of having her neck tore open, Eve would have attacked her on sight... it took every single ounce of strength she had to resist that urge. She couldn't get herself killed, Mew needed her.

"Well, well... if it isn't our runaway _clone,_" the tamer drew out the word, savouring the way Eve's eyes narrowed at the sight of her. "You and your little pet there took down two of my Pokemon, and the boss as pretty much given up on capturing and controlling you. So no one will care if I-" she unraveled the whip, holding it taut in both hands... "finally get payback for you ruining my career!" and then there was the crack as it came shooting for Eve, the psychic's eyes closing as she waited for the stinging agony as it tore through fur and flesh.

But the blow never came. Eve opened her eyes again, gawping at the sight before her. With the end of the lash in his paw, one that was dripping blood, hovering just before her, was a small green fairy. Hovering in the air, transparant white wings still even as he defied gravity. Eve managed to put the figure to a name in her memory. The fairy... guardian of time.

_Celebi._

"_I'll take that_," the tiny green legendary practically sneered, yanking back with enough force to wrench the whip from Jianna's hands. Throwing the weapon to the ground behind her, where she couldn't get to it without turning away from him, he faced down the Human, who looked shocked at being disarmed so easily. "_I've wanted to do this for years._" The fairy finished up by holding out his paws, a green glow forming and growning... sharpening, shaping... before fading to reveal the largest and sharpest looking leaves Eve had ever seen.

Yet Jianna didn't look scared anymore, her own features turning into an almost identical, cocky sneer. Her hand moved behind her, clutching a something behind her back before yanking it around, it had only taken a moment. Then everyone paused. Even Jianna's Pokemon froze, staring at what she was holding in sheer confusion. Instead of a firearm, the crazed human was holding a yellow fruit.

"_What? You gonna banana me to death!?_" Celebi laughed, even as his telepathic voice brought Jianna to snarl at him.

"What did you do with my gun!?"

"_I replaced it with a banana so you couldn't shoot anyone,_" the psychic's tone couldn't get anymore condencing as he mocked Jianna, which Eve thought was a rather stupid idea considering that she had an Umbreon and Ninjask ready to kill. "_Jeez, are all you tamers this slow?_"

"Give it back!"

"_Oh alright._"

Then the pistol came flying out of the undergrowth, spinning as it was telekinectically thrown at the back of Jianna's head, bouncing off of her skull and sending her crashing to the ground; even as Celebi launched himself forwards, avoiding a black pulse from the Umbreon in the process. The fairy spun in the air, eyes glowing, a telepathic order being broadcast straight at Eve.

"_Tilt your head to the left. Now!_" Was the secretive yell. Eve did as she was told, considering that she still had a bug attached to her neck, and the buzzing it produced sounded rather ticked off.

The twin leaves went firing towards the Umbreon, forcing her to dive clear, while the fairy switched his attention to the firearm merely inches above him. Reaching out with his power, he grabbed a hold of it in his psychic grasp, swinging it towards his target and the trigger seemed to pull itself as the invisisble hold that kept it airborn faded as it fired, sending it flying back into the trees as the bullet raced outwards... flying down, skimming past Eve's cheek, close enough to leave a tiny gash, before striking its target.

The Ninjask's carapice didn't stand a chance. It let out a high pitched squeal that caused both Eve and the Umbreon to wince as the round tore through its back, ripping off a wing in the process, and out though its stomach. The bullet missed Eve's tail by the same margin it had missed her cheek, another tiny gash to prove it too. But that was offset by the fact there was yellow blood everywhere, pouring from the wounded insect as it crashed to the floor.

"_I think I'm going to be sick..._" Eve muttered, her cheeks actually going slightly green underneath her fur.

But then that familiar crack sounded out, Eve spinning back to see Jianna getting back to her feet, whip back in hand. And the other end of the weapon was wrapped around Celebi's throat.


	3. Higher Power

There, I finally got something done on time, just. Still, even with all the violence, we have a little comic relief... and even a bit of character development.

Oh, and what has to be the best ending scene I've ever done.

Have fun!

**Worlds Apart - Act Three: Higher Power**

This was not good. Not good at all. Damnit, Eve had just escaped being caught, and the Legendary that had allowed her to do so was caught. And by the one person who she wouldn't want anyone to be caught by. The crazed woman had her lash tight around Celebi's throat, practically choking him... there was also trickles of blood running down his neck, from where the whip had torn through flesh. And yet he ignored the bleeding, the stinging agony; instead staring staight at Eve, as though he was trying to tell her something with his eyes alone.

Then Jianna used her free hand to unhook something from her belt, something hidden from Eve's gaze, untill the Human threw it to the ground in front of the psychic. Eve stared, it was some sort of bracelet, made of metalic plates... yet she couldn't sense it, her psychic abilities couldn't pick it up at all. She could see it right on the ground, yet to her mind, it was invisible. Much like Jianna seemed to be, evidentely she had a spare still on her somewhere.

"Put that on, or the fairy brat here dies!" Was the order, and it was definitely an order. If the noose around Celebi's throat hadn't tightened, digging even deeper into the gashes and causing him to wince slightly, then Eve would have told the sociopathic bitch just where she could stick that bangle thing. "It'll seal your damn energy attacks, every single one." So Eve couldn't just blast her, even if she did feel like risking hitting the fairy in the process.

"_Your call,_" Celebi's telepathy sounded out, in that clear tone that meant it was only her that could hear. "_you know what will happen if you let her capture you. But you can only imagine what she'll do to me if you refuse to co-operate._"

It shouldn't have been so difficult... but Eve hesitated. She really didn't want to make that decision, damning herself or another... She almost wondered what Mew would do, but shook off the thought. Mew was a selfish git, he wouldn't help. She didn't want to be like that. So she leant down and picked up the bracelet, struggling with the clatch. Then there was a slight yelp coming from the Umbreon, before another voice piped up."

"Yeesh, you sure picked the wrong hostage."

Eve and Jianna stared, Celebi having to settle for a glance out of the corner of his eye. On his feet, clothes completely intact, stood Mew in his human guise, holding Esteria by the scruff of her neck. And, what caused Jianna's eyes to widen, he held her gun in his free hand, with it leveled at her dark type's head. "Stalemate."

"Put my Pokemon down or this bastard dies!" The Human practically screeched, Eve still standing there, shocked. The Umbreon looked even worse off, trying to stuggle free, only stopping when there was a slight click from the firearm's mechinism, the trigger having been pulled slightly.

"Let Celebi go or your bastard dies," Mew replied, voice toneless and eyes guarded.

"Only when you release Esteria!"

"You first."

"Now way, you!"

"We're going to be here all day at this rate..." Mew sighed with a roll of his eyes, before shrugging slightly, the Umbreon's large ears bouncing slightly with the movement.

Then Mew pulled the gun away from the Umbreon's skull, pointing it at another target. The trigger tightened more. He wasn't! He couldn't... could he?

"_No!_" Eve yelled as there was that massive crash, Jianna's whip falling from her hand as the Pokemon on the other end was hit by the shot, crimson spraying out of his back... as he fell, a small silvery fairy wing seemed to hover, caught in the breeze for a moment, before it, too, crashed to earth.

"There, you don't have a hostage. And I do." Mew's voice still hadn't changed, as the gun was once again pointed at Esteria. "I win."

"You shot it..." Even Jianna seemed confused by what had happened...

"Your point?" Mew tilted his head in that kit like manner that seemed so unfitting what he had done in the last hour. "We both had hostages, neither of us were going to back down in the next minute or so. And, if you hadn't noticed, we have Shadows on the loose around here, so maybe I don't have time to waste here. So the only solution was to remove one hostage from the equation..."

"_So he shot me._" Eve heard the fairy's telepathic voice but... that couldn't be right. There was no way in hell! She stared down at the fallen fairy, watching as his form flickered and faded into nothingness as though it had never even been there. Even the blood vanished.

Now really confused, both her and Jianna turned to look up at Mew, who just smirked. "Celebi, master of illusions. Okay, Jianna, remove that second bangle thing of yours, put it on the floor and then I'll let you recall this thing and walk away with your life. Or you couldn't bother and I get to kill you both. I honestly don't give a crap which." And, for the first time in her life, Eve was afraid for someone who had tortured her. She wanted to stop Mew... but she couldn't bring herself to move, stuck watching as the tamer's eyes blazed before she moved, slowly reaching down to her ankle and pulling up a trouser leg, unclipping the second of those strange devices.

Mew kept a careful eye as the Human enlarged a Pokeball, just incase she tried to summon anything else, or threw it at him. But instead Jianna just did as she had been told and the red beam of light shot out, recalling the Umbreon back inside it. Now the gun was leveled at the tamer.

"Turn around, walk away. And don't ever let me see you again." Mew ordered, Jianna's eyes glinting and her jaw and fists clenched with barely controlled rage, but she turned away. She turned and walked away. Vanishing down the trail and out of sight.

Mew kept the gun ready for a few minutes, a few minutes where no one moved, even the wind fell silent and still. Then he finally lowered it to his side, relaxing and giving a small smile to himself. "Phew, that was a close one."

"You're telling me," This flicker in the air beside Eve piped up, before it revealed Celebi. "if she had tried anything, and you'd shot her... I doubt we'd have been able to handle that Esteria without attracting a lot more trouble."

"Hell hath no fury like a pissed Umbreon," Mew slipped the firearm into his pocket, which caused Eve to frown, the expression only deepening when the psychic 'kitten' looked across at her. Then she moved, stepping forwards, pulling back a hand, clenching it into a fist and cracking her brother one; right in the face. He stumbled back, clutching at the red mark upon his cheek, staring up at his attacker.

Even Celebi, who had started laughing at the shocked look upon Mew's face, had to fall silent when Eve's glare turned on him.

"_Why did you kill that Ninjask!?_" She wasn't asking, she demanded the answer... and Celebi gave it.

"It had its pincers right next to that second neck of yours. There was no chance of prying it free, and merely injuring it would have given it the ample motivation to kill you. Besides, it was a lowly insect... in terms of the grand scheme of fate; whoop-de-friggen-do, one less bug in the world isn't that big a deal."

Eve went to punch him too, but a green barrier formed around her, preventing her from reaching the fairy. Not that she didn't try, flinging a Shadow Ball at the shield, trying to shatter it and doing nothing bar wasting energy.

"Anyhoo, moving on from Eve's hissy fit," Mew spoke up, the barrier standing strong as Eve tried to get at him, although Celebi was tempted to let it drop and let her hit the other higher power again... "why are you here in the first place? You don't exactly like... what she is." The words caused all three psychics flinch. That was a sore subject for them all.

"I don't have to explain myself to you," Celebi replied, crossing his arms and letting his wings propell himself a few inches higher in the air, so he was slightly above Mew.

"I still have the gun, don't make me actually shoot you this time."

"I was in the area and just felt like it."

"Doesn't sound like you. There's always another reason, some ulterior motive."

"Fine!" Celebi cracked, "I saved her because her being killed would destroy you! And I couldn't let that happen..."

Both Mew and Eve stared, both wondering exactly what he meant by that. Celebi noticed, turning slightly red in the face.

"You don't..." Mew muttered, falling silent, prefering not to say it.

"If you were torn apart like that, there'd be more damage to the timeline than if your 'sister' here was kept alive. I went with the lesser of two apocalypses, that's all," Celebi turned away, frowning slightly.

"Oh thank the holy mother of me!" Mew gasped, "I thought you were trying to score with me for a moment..."

"Perish the thought," Celebi replied, still not looking back at Mew, but Eve could see the way the fairy's cheeks reddened even further.

"_So why are you blushing?_"

Celebi snapped around, glaring straight at her, "because the merest suggestion that I would ever consider being attracted to that-" he guestured over at Mew, "thing... is embarrassing."

"The feeling is mutual!" Mew snapped back.

"You irritating shapeshifter!"

"Arrogant floating vegetable!"

"Go choke on some kitty-litter."

---

That one seemed to stop Mew in his tracks, his anger vanished and he just stood there, staring at Celebi... no, Eve noticed, that wasn't right, he was staring behind Celebi. She leant across to see, just in time to witness the bushes being torn apart by one of the weirdest creatures she had ever seen. Some freakish mix between bug and the medieval knights in story books. Covered in an armor-like carapice, a dark purple color, the great pincers open and ready to strike, and Eve didn't doubt that they were powerful enough to shatter bone.

Celebi's victorious smirk vanished as he spotted the stunned looks, turning just in time to see the shadow Scizor's blow coming. Yet he was too late to react, taking the 'punch' to his face, one with enough force to send him shooting through the air, past Mew and Eve, across the entire clearing, before hitting the base of a hefty oak tree. The bark around the impact splintered under the force, the wood titan cracking and beginning to tear free from its roots as Celebi fell forwards, onto his face. Immobile, and bleeding.

The Scizor had its target, Eve and Mew didn't exist as far as it was concerned. As long as neither of them moved, it would wait until its current prey was disabled before beginning a new hunt, with them. Mew knew that, so he didn't move at all, and Eve was too stunned to do anything other that stare. The attack had happened so quickly, so brutaly... No warning, nothing. Celebi hadn't even done anything to hurt it, yet it attacked anyway. It attacked and disabled a Legendary in one shot...

Two shots, if the oak tree finally giving way was to be counted, the great wooden behemoth falling forwards with a sickening tearing sound. Celebi didn't move from where he lay, even as the shadow of it falling engulfed him, even as the great oak came falling down. Even as it hit the earth, Mew having to take a step back to avoid the upper part of the tree, while the bug just stood there, foliage and hefty branches crashing against armor, without flinching.

And, with it's target out of the way, it was free to go after another. Following the stronger psychic aura; the focused, yet blank, eyes slowly moved untill they were locked on the chosen target. Eve squeaked slightly, it was staring straight at her. Mew's Human guise had hidden his power, so she had been left vunerable, and now it was too late... the target was chosen, it wouldn't stop until the prey was destroyed.

Didn't stop Mew vaulting over the tree, pulling back a fist and slamming it straight into the Scizor's face. It crashed to the floor, the unexpected blow catching it off guard, while Mew winced, clenching and unclenching his fist, which Eve noted was bleeding.

"Forgot to reinforce it with a barrier." Mew shook his wounded hand slightly, the bones cracking back into place, "Eve, get back." He didn't even look at her, watching the fallen bug, it wasn't moving, yet Mew was still tense, still ready.

And yet he still visibly jumped when the thing sat up. His uninjured hand shot for the pistol in his pocket, Eve moving to stop him even as he pulled it free. She stopped, having to turn her eyes away and cover her ears against the repeated gunshots as Mew unloaded the entire thing at the Scizor. She turned back to snap at him for killing, before stopping cold.

Still sitting there, still unharmed, the Scizor's armor hadn't even been dented by the bullets. Mew, still holding onto the now-empty gun, stood in silence for a few seconds before he spoke. Three words, that's all he said, three words that seemed to freeze the psychic clone. The words were empty, void of all emotion, he sounded so much like Mewtwo, that it took a few seconds for her to really process what he'd said.

"Eve, please, run."

That was when the Scizor got to its feet, its wings shooting wide. Eve wanted to scream at the sight of the thing, standing there, purple and black, about to pummel her brother into the dirt... and knowing she couldn't do anything to stop it. She couldn't do anything bar whimper as the thing shot forward, a pincer grabbing a hold of Mew's wrist, squeezing tight enough that he was forced to drop the gun, even as bones started to crack. Mew tried not to cry out, not to make things worse, but he couldn't hold back a little cry of pain as blood started to run down his arm, as he fell to his knees, the bug not stopping it's relentless crushing of the limb, even as its free pincer was pulled back.

Mew was in too much pain to curse, to make a witty remark, anything at all, before the Shadow's metal 'fist' struck him in the forehead with enough force to send him crashing to the floor. His tranformation reversed upon the hit, his much smaller paw managing to escape the Scizor's pincer. But it was small comfort, considering the blinding agony coming from his skull. He could feel more of that precious blood running down his face, staining pink fur crimson, before the pain caused him to see white, then black.

---

Eve couldn't stop herself from crying as Mew crumpled to the floor. She couldn't believe that such a thing was possible... it beat Mew, it beat Celebi... and it was going to kill them, and then it would come after her. And it would never stop.

"_No._" She said, even as the bug raised a steel foot over the head of the fallen kitten, it's intent painfully obvious. It was a monster, nothing more than that. Pure evil. And she wouldn't let that... that _thing_ just get away with it.

The bug stopped, it's foot inches above crushing Mew's battered skull, as a psychic pulse blasted through the air, slamming into its chest plate and knocking it back a step. Ignoring the harmless, fallen target, it instead turned to the new threat. Facing it down, eyes glowing a vibrant purple, even as another psychic pulse went rocketing through the air, Eve growled to herself.

Enough was enough. That thing was going to pay.


	4. Forest Spirits

There, finally, Act Four is finished. And I love it... seriously, it's fun playing with Anti's world. It's rather refreshing to have Celebi still be a total jerk, but not be a villian. Now I can see why people are actually fans of him, damnit he's fun. And so's Eve, strangely.

I suppose, seeing as this is more Anomaly based than ToF, I should say what Aeris normally does... so I will. So let's go! (Okay, I can't say that with a straight face.)

**Worlds Apart - Act Four: Forest Spirits**

Eve's upper lip curled back in a snarl as she moved her hands together, feeling her own heartbeat as she concentrated, the fur on her arms rippling as energy shot down the appendages. Her power gathered in her palms, focusing, merging, forming a black ball, one that crackled with her rage. The ghostly orb grew as Eve's eyes locked with the monster's before her, that empty gaze only fueling the fire as she threw her hands forward, releasing her hold on the Shadow Ball, firing it with a force she didn't know she possessed.

It blasted through the air, covering the short space in a second. The Scizor didn't even move, didn't even react as the ghostly orb arced in on its target. Eve growled again as the Shadow Ball crashed into the bug's face, detonating with a resounding crack. She could see the shockwave in the dusty air, feel the rush of air as it passed her by... her growl stopped. The Scizor hadn't flinched, hadn't fallen back, hadn't shown any sign of even feeling the blow. It took a step forward, closer to her, the light filtering through the trees reflecting off the dent in its armor, a dent that seemed to be fixing itself.

Watching it, Eve could sense that shadowy aura radiating from the bug, focused around the damaged armor. The sensention of the power emanating from the bug sent chills through her, especially as that steel plating healed itself in seconds. Suddenly, as it took another step closer, taking it on seemed a bad idea. But, as she spotted a long pink tail flicker slightly out of the corner of her eye, Eve fought down her instinct to flee. Mew was still alive, he needed her, she couldn't abandon him. She wouldn't back down, no matter how powerful that monster was.

The Scizor's wings were going at full speed now, the purple appendages, moving fast enough to be almost invisible. Eve growled again, focusing her power for another assault, even as she watched the bug for any sign of an incoming attack. Unfortunately, she found out, Shadow's give no warning. It shot forwards, becoming naught but a blur as it homed in on her. Eve didn't have time to think, she merely reacted, her energy shifting to psychically fire herself to the side, away from the massive pincers that went rocketing past her head with mere millimeters to spare.

Both clone and bug skidded to a halt, the former wincing slightly at the stinging sensation coming from a cheek. A small trickle of crimson ran down Eve's face, the Scizor's wing had caught her with enough force to slice through skin. Ignoring the pain, she focused once more, feeling that familiar cold chill radiating from her paws as they took on a blue glow all of their own. The Scizor didn't react at all, again, either as the Ice Beam tore into those vunerable wings, freezing flesh, ripping off the one that had caught on her cheek.

The fact it showed no pain caused a conflicting reaction in Eve. One part of her was terrified, scared of this thing that just could not feel pain, that would not stop. The other side of her, however, just felt enraged, pissed off that the bastard insect didn't have the decency to hurt, to fall, to scream, like the damn thing was supposed to. And the berserk side of her was much, much bigger than her fear. She snarled again as she raised another Shadow Ball, fueling it with her emotions, the ghostly orb reacting to its mistress and giving off great sparks, ones that heated up the air, ones that would burn through flesh and bone.

The black ball of energy, rivaling Mew in size, was fired across the clearing even faster than the last, leaving a trail of sparks behind it as it raced for its target, the point right between the Scizor's wings. However, this time, the bug moved, spinning with enough force to kick up even more dust, even as a pincer swung out, slamming into the Shadow Ball in mid-flight. There was no detonation, no great rush of power bursting from its confines. Eve's rage shrank slightly, compelling her to take a step back, as the creature seemed to absorb the attack.

Its hollow eyes, staring out through the eyeholes in its armor, seemed to pierce through her own as that pincer pointed straight at her chest, now radiating that same shadowy aura she has sensed before. The fear grew, Eve trembled slightly, she had thrown all she had into that attack, it would have flattened a Steelix and yet that thing had effortlessly stopped it. She was panting slightly while it did not seemed exausted at all. Eve finally realised why Mew had killed that Absol, to prevent another one of these monsters, these unstoppable killers... to prevent a nice Pokemon losing all control, becoming ruled solely by the urge to kill. Dione had saved her life and, in return, Mew had saved his soul...

"_Aww, I hate to ruin your little moment, but now it's my turn!_" A telepathic call caused both Eve and the insect to pause, both suddenly feeling a massive pulse of pure psychic power. The Scizor turned to follow the pulse, while she smiled at the voice. Eve wanted to cheer as that fallen oak was lifted up, the Legendary underneath floating up, holding the behemoth plant as he smirked, swinging his arms out, releasing the tree. "_Miss me?_" The Scizor's shadow aura blinked out as the oak smashed into its face, sending it crashing to the ground, trapped underneath the wood.

Celebi's small fists clenched as he stared down at the cracked tree, Eve amazed at the fact he was alive, let alone seemingly unharmed. But then she remembered Mew saying once that the fairy could heal at an unmatched rate, and he couldn't have picked a better time.

"See how you like it," he spoke down to the fallen bug, before glancing across at Eve, "you know, you aren't so pathetic after all, holding that thing off as long as you did."

Eve was about to reply to the fairy, when she remembered Mew. She spun away, quickly spotting the fallen kitten and darting over. He was in very bad shape, all those earlier wounds had reopened, along with the giant gash on his head... there was barely any fur left pink, stained as it was. He looked even smaller than usual, his chest moving only a fraction with shallow, laboured breaths. Eve reached down, scooping up her brother and holding him to her chest as she stood once more, turning to face Celebi once more. Her telepathic voice barely more than a whisper as she looked into the fairy's eyes.

"_Will he be okay?_"

The forest spirit frowned slightly as he looked down at Mew's tiny frame, before he spoke, "I cannot say for sure...With a head injury like that, even my healing abilities might not be enough to fix him."

"_But you can try!_" Eve practically pleaded.

"I have more important things to do at the moment," Celebi turned away, tiny paws clenched into green fists.

"_Like what?! What is more important than saving Mew?_" She almost shouted, only managing to lessen her voice when Mew moved slightly, as though he was trying to curl into a ball.

"Making sure we all survive, period."

Eve blinked, wondering what he meant by that, when her blood chilled as she picked up that eerie shadow aura... that wasn't possible... She turned, staring at that tree, her eyes widening at the purple glowing veins that were spreading out over it. They pulsed with that aura, expanding and covering the whole tree.

"...I miss the days when people were courteous enough to die when you threw a tree at them." Celebi sighed, his wings propelling him a little higher into the air, even as the green glowing leaves formed in his paws, the Miracle Leaves arcing down and impaling the wood. The veins stopped spreading, yet the pulsing got stronger still. Something had to give, and the wood was creaking under the heavy strain of that toxic power.

There was a sickening crack as the tree gave way, massive chunks of bark, branches and roots shot in all directions, propelled by the blast. Eve spun away, protecting her face from the storm of splinters even as a barrier formed around her. She could feel the hailstorm pounding away at her shield, hear them trying to penetrate and reach flesh. She had to fight the urge to squeeze Mew, just managing to succeed, but even she couldn't fight back a whimper as her barrier continued to suffer a pounding.

After what seemed like an eternity, the storm finally started to thin out, the items pounding away at her barrier losing their force, allowing Eve to rise from her crouch, turning back and letting the shield fall... she stared, a mix of a whimper and a growl sounding out from her throat at the sight of that damned insect. Its armor was heavily dented, but it was repairing itself, even as it stared at her and Mew... even as it raised a pincer, one that held a very-sharp-looking piece of wood.

The purple aura formed again, Eve's eyes widening as the makeshift spear was pointed right at her chest, right at Mew's head... she didn't have the energy for another barrier, not to stop that thing, the branch itself was radiating that evil power... The Scizor's eyes flashed and the deadly spear fired... just as a green Pokemon shot inbetween Eve and the attack, the fairy's own barrier forming, crumpling to the impact of the spear, that just kept on going. Eve cried out as Celebi's entire body jerked back, the spiked object imbedded in his chest.

Then he looked over his shoulder, narrowed orbs meeting her wide eyes. His voice was clear, empty of pain, almost as though the stake in his chest did not exist.

"You might want to start running," he adviced, before turning back with a chuckle, "because I'm going to make one hell of a mess!"

Eve decided to listen, not wanting to watch as the fairy placed his paws on the spear in his chest, fleeing for the trees even as he pulled, tugging the stake out of him and flinging it away, just in time to shoot backwards to avoid a punch from those lethal pincers. Celebi floated low, forcing it to duck in order to swing, giving the fairy the perfect chance to shoot over its head, the pincer slamming into the dirt with a resounding crack. The forest sprite flew over the Shadow's head, uing his wings to swing him around, even as he focused his power in his paws, summoning another twin Miracle Leaf.

The Scizor's wings fell apart as the grass blades impaled themselves in its back, looking almost like wings themselves. Celebi smirked, as the insect rose to turn around, to come back for a second shot, to take a Shadow Ball to the face, sending it staggering back. Insect Shadows had rapid healing abilities, being able to almost match his own, so he was more than aware of how much he had to push the bug before it would go down and die. With that armor, getting to that stage would be tricky, but he had nothing to worry about. In the end, he was Celebi, guardian of fate, witness of time, no twisted mockery of life could stand a chance.

That was the plan, anyway. But, before that, Celebi had to get the cursed bug to follow that scheme. And there was only way that would happen. Another Miracle Leaf arced through the air, aimed at a weakpoint on the armored insect, slicing open its shoulder and forcing it to lower a pincer for a few seconds, giving Celebi enough time to float into the center of the clearing, where sunlight filtered through the trees. The light, filled with power, focused and compressed in the palm of his paws... The Legendary took aim, straight at the center of the chestplate as the Scizor came shooting for him, only to be flung backwards, propelled by the great blast of green energy.

"Solar Beam!"

---

Stupid tree branches, they were all catching in her face and, carrying Mew, she didn't have a free arm to protect her eyes from the bastard twigs. Eve growled, a psychic shockwave soon blasting them to the ground and out of her face, allowing her to focus on running without jolting Mew too much. His breathing was still weak, his tail was barely moving, and even then it was more the result of her stumbling over a root than the psychic kitten. Eve could feel his wounds against her arms, places where there was torn flesh instead of fur. She tried shifting him, trying to find a way to hold him that didn't involve clutching an injury, but such a position did not seem to exist.

"_Celebi... hurry up._"

Of course, that was when the Scizor came crashing through the undergrowth, hitting the ground and kicking up dust and debris as it came to a halt. Eve froze in her tracks, another small whimper escaping out of her as the insect slowly started to push itself up... there were giant leaves imbedded in it's back, that black blood-like substance slowly seeping out of the wounds as it moved, pushing itself up, only to be met by a Shadow ball arcing down from the treetops, one coming from the fairy that slowly floated down.

Celebi was smiling, he knew it's ability to heal was impeded by the Miracle Leaves in its back, and it's armor had ceased recovering after the Solar Beam, leaving it torn and buckled. But, it was still mobile, and went on the offencive once more. Only this time, pointing its Pincer at the fairy and unleashing a blast of Shadow energy, a twisted, corrupted version of an Air Cutter attack. Celebi was too slow to dodge, catching the blow in his own stomach and crashing to the floor, feeling the toxic Shadow aura entering his system, his regenerative abilities struggling to fight it off, fighting to stop it warping him... turning him into a creature that fed on chaos.

Eve's anger returned as Celebi fell, the bug stepping forwards to finish what it had started. She didn't think, telekinetically grabbing ahold of all the surrounding dust and debris, flinging it straight at the insect from every direction. She had to slow it down, stun it, blind it... she didn't expect it to stagger back, stumble and fall, she didn't expect to see a large, jagged stick imbedded through its left eye.

"_...Holy mother of Mew..._" Celebi stared as the bug stopped moving, the fairy managing to push himself up... she'd won?!


	5. One Path

Wow, this has been a while. I'm amazed it took me so long to get this done.

Guess I'm lazier than I thought.

Anyway, rather nice plot and character development here.

And Celebi seems to flit between awesome, badass and total jerk a lot in this Act.

Oh, and Eve's so dumb it's almost cute. Almost.

So, shall we depart? (There, I actually found something that sounds dumber than "So let's go!")

**Worlds Apart - Act Five: One Path**

It was impossible. The child-clone had somehow managed to take down a Shadow that even Celebi had struggled with. Completely impossible, if Celebi didn't know better, he would have thought that Lady Luck watched over her. Then he spotted the Scizor twitching, and it was more than mere death throes. She had not killed it after all. The fairy growled to himself, pushing the burning sensation to the back of his mind, trusting in his body's healing abilities to work on their own, as his wings slowly started to move, providing just enough lift to pull him upright, allowing him to see more than the tainted bug in front of him.

And Celebi did not like what he was viewing. Eve was quivering, shaking, looking like her legs were going to give at any moment, while she struggled to hold onto the blood-stained kitten in her arms. No, not kitten, Mew was not that much younger than Celebi, only a few hundred years seperating the two, practically nothing to those who were essentially immune to the tests of time. Mew would not falter now, not in the face of his injuries, not after all those years, that was one thing Celebi knew was true, so he pushed the worry back to join that dark fire. He had to focus on the present, on what he had to do to keep everyone alive and pure, or as pure as a being such as Eve could be.

"_Damnit,_" he cursed in his mind, she was essential now, even if he hated to admit it, he could no longer view her as an unwelcome virus in the world. Something to be hunted down and destroyed... she was not such a thing, and that Scizor was. The burning was making it had to concentrate, but he needed his psychic abilities if he was to fight, "_Focus!_"

...It was hard, but Celebi managed to gather enough strength to float into the air, his movements becoming easier as his regerative abilities toiled away. He was able to fly, slowly, inch by inch, towards the stunned psychic, her wide red eyes finally meeting his own.

"_I-_" He already knew what she was about to say, he had heard the words many times before, over the many centuries, from the throats of those who had stole a life in their desperation.

"You did not kill it." His voice was unsteady, still shaking from the supressed agony that was only now starting to fade, "you merely stopped it. It can no longer regenerate fast enough to recover, only enough to keep itself alive." He decided not to tell her that there was hardly anything left of the Scizor, the bug destroyed by the parasitic energy that had tainted its soul... it was not something she needed to know, not while she was still recovering from the act itself.

"_But... I-I stabbed it in the eye! In the head!_" She was starting to panic, her chest rising and falling with each rushed breath.

"You didn't penetrate far enough, barely scratching the surface of the brain, damaging only a part that Shadows do not use anyway. Speech, memories, Shadows have no need for them. So, all you did was paralyse it, if you removed that makeshift spear, it would heal, it would get up, and it would kill." Now that, she needed to know, she needed to accept what she was being told, otherwise she would not understand what Celebi had to do next.

He floated over to the frozen insect, watching it's minute movements. His body had recovered enough from the cursed attack, the twisted blast of energy he had been struck with, that he was able to extend the reach of his mind, searching along the floor of the forest, before settling on an object that fitted his purposes. The long stick floated into the air, heading for the fairy's hand, even as the stunned clone watched. Celebi moved over the Scizor's face, pointedly not looking down at that feral expression, he needed all his energy to keep his powers up, he could not afford to feel the fear from looking into those bloodthirsty eyes.

Well, eye, he chuckled to himself, the damaged one was completely obscured by the wooden item that impaled it. The clone's twig could not penetrate any deeper, could not do any real damage to the beast's twisted mind. So Celebi had the job of finishing what he had started, what she had interrupted. He pulled back his paw, concentrating his powers on the much thinner stick. It was sturdy, it would hold long enough to do.

"Scizor have two eye holes for a reason!" He growled, his paw shooting down, releasing the pent-up energy behind the weapon, the wood shooting down, hitting its mark, piercing the vunerable flesh. Celebi smiled, no mockery of life, no twisted creature could defeat him. He was the Holy Paladin; and the damned would fall.

--

Eve's breath caught in her throat as the makeshift spear penetrated through the Scizor's right eye hole. There was no doubt that it was a fatal blow, the stick sinking in far enough that it almost vanished completely into the bugs skull. She knew what it was, what it would do, and yet the sight of such a brutal, merciless end was too much to bear. Her cheeks were turning green, visable through her fur, as she fought the urge to lose those doughnuts from earlier. Still, her sickness faded as a weak mewling came from the creature in her arms.

"If you puke on me, I'm grounding you for life," Mew muttered, his blue eyes blinking up at her. Eve now found herself fighting the urge to squeeze, to hug her brother, knowing that the act would aggrivate his wounds further.

"_You're okay!_"

"Well, as okay as he can be, considering," Celebi flew over, Eve having to resist the urge to back away... even knowing what the thing had been, watching Celebi kill it had almost been too much. The fairy, seeming to realise this, slowed his flight, approaching slowly as he held his paw a few inches over Mew's head. "You sure you don't want to be unconscious for this?"

"Can't be in anymore pain than I am right now."

Eve paused, what the hell did that mean? But, by the time she'd came to a conclusion, Celebi had already closed his eyes and concentrated, his paws starting to glow a vibrant green, one that seemed to illuminate Mew's wounds, the light spreading. Eve could only stare as the light moved, focused solely around the injuries, which seemed to stop bleeding all at once. She guessed it was like watching Recover in slow-motion. There was one problem, when the healing started on the wounds themselves instead of sealing the bloodflow, Mew suddenly tensed up, his tail actually cracking Eve in the leg as his eyes squeezed close, small whimpers escaping him.

"_You're hurting him!_"

"And, if you drop him, it'll hurt worse, without actually healing him in the process. So hold still!" Celebi snapped, moving back as the recovery moved on its own, the female having to avert her gaze as the glow got even brighter, and Mew's flailing got stronger, forcing her to clutch tighter to keep her grip.

But, her eyes opened in shock, she wasn't holding onto wounds anymore, just flesh. The healing ability had started on Mew's sides, allowing her to hold onto him without fear of hurting him worse, before spreading to the injuries on his head. Now, as these were really severe, Eve was fully expecting Mew to start screaming. But there was none, she could see him fighting them back, clenching his jaw so tightly it looked as though it might snap. But, if it did, the glow would just go and fix that too, so she supposed there was no worry. Celebi had taken hold of the pink feline's tail, stopping it bruising Eve further, to which she was grateful.

Then the light finally started to fade, Eve really staring as it revealed Mew's form once more. There was not even a trace of his wounds, Celebi's spell has even managed to regrow the pink fur to cover the healed flesh. He still looked pale, but he was no longer so tense, slowly relaxing and letting his eyes drift open.

"...I always forget just how painful doing that while awake really is," his voice shook slightly, and Eve noticed a few green sparks fixing where he had bitten his lip to stop himself screaming.

"Not as bad as that time you got impaled by that spear a thousand years back," Celebi shrugged, while Mew merely winced at the memory, or as the sparks ran one more time over his body, Eve guessing to remove scars under the fur. Celebi continued without a pause, "besides, most people pass out from the pain eventually anyway, you're one of the few who can withstand it."

Mew looked confused, "...I thought I was the only one."

"Scyther." Celebi merely stated, before pausing for a moment, "oh yeah, we'd better get moving, don't want to be standing around for another Shadow to just jump us. I'd rather fight them on my terms."

"_Which are?_"

"We live; it doesn't. Which isn't going to happen if we stand here gossiping, so let's move it!" Celebi turned and flew off into the trees, Eve sighing and following behind, Mew still in her arms. Healed or no, the clone didn't really believe Mew should be flying, so she kept a firm grip on the kitten as she weaved through the trees after the fairy.

--

They traveled in silence, Eve couldn't tell for how long, stopping at every little sound, a rustling leaf, a twig breaking, every tiny little sound could hide danger. Eve hated it, both the silence and the fear, they made every second near unbearable. She was almost hoping for something to show up, or for Mew to crack a joke, or even tell her off for fighting that thing, _anything!_

"Eve..." the kitten in her arms mewled, only a whisper above the wind.

"_Crap._" She knew that last part had been asking for it, Mew had probably been waiting for that exact thought.

"T-thank you." The words were hesitent, shaking, almost as if he wasn't sure that he could say them, even if he knew that he must.

They caused her to stop in her tracks, staring down at him, her red eyes meeting his blue, the colour dulled by pain and tears. That- that had not been what she'd expected to hear.

"_How what now?_" She winced as she said it, why did she keep saying that?!

"You saved me." Mew glanced to the side, his tone slowly turning hollow and empty again, "in more ways than you know."

"­_Mew..._" Would he ever cheer up and be his old self again, she sighed, it was really starting to seem like it wasn't going to happen...

"Hey, Princess, Puff-tuff, stop yapping for a moment!"

"What did you just call me?" Mew snapped back, practically snarling, while Eve just found herself staring. He did _not_ just say that.

"Puff-tuff, after the annoying pink things." The fairy shrugged, "Would you prefer Jiggly-wiggly?"

"No, puff-tuff is good."

"Thought so." He turned to Eve, who was still trying to figure out if she should be confused by the conversation, or insulted at what he'd called her. "You going to imput anything?"

"_How what now?_" Jir-damnit, she winced, where the hell did that keep coming from. Even Celebi looked puzzled, turning away.

"Ooookay then; moving on."

He guestured to a small side path, Mew's eyes widening further at the sight of it. Now Eve was really confused, it was just a normal path... then she spotted the ground, the way that grass was growing in between stones... not stones, gravel. A gravel path, in a forest.

"_That is not right._" There was no way that happened naturally but, considering the rest of today, little suprised her. Mew finally floating out of her arms and glancing over at Celebi, however, did.

"Let's go." He ordered.

"You can't be serious." Celebi grumbled, wings fluttering as he protested, "We have Shadows on the loose."

"That will lead to people!" Mew's tail lashed, voice cold. He actually looked kinda scary, the way his eyes flashed that vivid purple, the way his entire body hung in the air, going from limp to tense with each breath...

"Who will be dead, or being deadified at this very moment."

"They could need our help." The pink kitten's voice got colder, older, he sounded even worse than Mewtwo had.

"They could be the reason that those monsters are around anyway!"

"_Guys..._" She had to stop this, somehow.

"We're supposed to help and protect people!"

"Which we are doing, we're going to help and protect us!"

"_Guys._" Her necks were starting to hurt from the way she was having to look between the two of them.

"Oh, so that's the great Holy Paladin's real feelings then? Screw the Humans, I'm a super-psychic?!" Now he'd gone from cold to sarcastic, and yet the words still sent a shiver down Eve's spine, she could feel her fur starting to frizz.

Okay, the hell with it, she knew how to stop this. She walked between the two of them, heading down the gravel path. And, to top it all off, she grabbed ahold of an antenna, and a pink ear, just to get their attention.

"_We're going._"

"Fine," Celebi was growling, "just let me go, before I chop your hand off."

"Do it and die!" Mew shot back.

"I'd like to see you try."

...She almost prefered the Shadows, she decided. They gave her less of a headache.


	6. Holy Trinity

And we're back again. You have no idea how long this took to write.

Well, maybe you do, if you've been counting how long it's been since I last update.

Yeah, I got bit by the lazy bug again.

Anyway, a welcome return to the crazy world of Anti's realm.

I'd say more, but it is ungodly late at night and I have to work tomorrow morning...

Getting up is going to be hell.

**Worlds Apart - Act Six: Holy Trinity**

It had been been five minutes, and there had been no sign of the trail ending. Eve had let the other two psychics go, one of which was sulking. Hovering just at shoulder height, wings and antenna twitching, arms crossed, Celebi was grumbling to himself.

"Still say this is suicidal..."

"No one asked you to stay!" Mew snapped back from his spot on Eve's over side, the female having placed herself between the two in a futile attempt to stop their bickering.

"And leave you alone?" The fairy scoffed, "you'd be dead in five seconds."

"Fly over here and say that." Mew's paws clenched, eyes flashing purple.

"Yeah, wouldn't want to tucker you out by making you come over here. I'm surprised you can manage without being carried," Celebi shrugged, "pathetic."

"Oh you are-"

"_Would you two stop it?!_" Eve interjected, shooting the pair of higher powers the sternest glare she could manage.

Mew actually flinched away, looking almost apolagetic. Whereas Celebi just stuck out his tongue, acting more like a petulant child. Eve paused, wondering how the hell she knew that word. It sounded like something Mewtwo would have said, back before... probably did, not that she ever really paid attention whenever he had started to rant. At least Mew, even now, still tended to avoid scolding her as much as Mewtwo had. For which Eve was grateful. She didn't think her spine would have managed to hold much more instances of being slammed into trees.

---

Fools, Celebi growled under his breath as he observed the two psychics he was stuck escorting. One was exhausted both physically and mentally, barely able to stay in the air. Only the untrained eye of the other prevented the damned clone from noticing, so caught up in her own thoughts she was barely even aware of the path she was walking on. They were no help. If the act wouldn't have every Shadow for miles homing in, Celebi would have just teleported the two out of the area and get on with what he came here to do instead of babysit a couple of invalids.

He needed to get the two out of the way somehow, so he could go prevent the cursed infection from spreading further, from becoming near impossible to eradicate. But yet they insisted on this suicidal venture, requiring that he ignore the real threat just to make sure one didn't get a shot at the two beside him. If one did, then the results could easily turn catastrophic. So, as much as it annoyed Celebi, as much as it went against his better judgement, he had no choice but to assist the two and pray that the Shadow infestation was not as deep as it first seemed.

Unfortunately, the air was thick with traces of the toxic being's presence, so Celebi was finding it hard to stay hopeful. That was another problem of those accursed creatures, the inability to accurately sense most of them. He would only know of their presence through his own instincts. Luckily Mew finally seemed to have realised the nature of the situation, keeping silent and allowing the fairy to concentrate. Even the clone was mercifully quiet, for about five seconds before the innane chatter started up again!

"_Why don't you two like each other anyway?_"

"Princess, shut up."

"_What did you just-_"

"Eve, do as he says. As much as I hate to say it, Cel's better at dealing with Shadows than I am. If he thinks one's around, we can't risk distracting him."

About time the kitten finally admitted that, Celebi smirked; and it was certainly about time he actually followed his own advice. While his 'brethren' didn't look convinced, she at least had the grace to follow orders and stay quiet this time. The poisonous scent in the air was getting thicker. He glanced across, past Eve, catching Mew's eye. The small feline was grim; even weakened as he was, he could still pick up those traces. And, as expected, the female was clueless, almost happily walking further down the trail, into danger.

Celebi wasn't surprised. She was a child, trapped way out of her league. One who should not even exist, but was allowed to live through some sick twist of fate. He fought the distracting thoughts back, focusing completely on the surroundings, on the undergrowth. Shadows still possessed hunting instincts, they still had enough grasp of stealth to get close enough to strike. And it would only take one blow to his comrades to fall to the demonic disease as neither possessed his regenerative abilities.

He was their defence; and Celebi was not one who would let himself succumb to failure.

---

Mew was also trying to keep tabs on any attackers, but his senses were haphazard at best, which Mew was most certainly not. His energy was nearly completely spent, only able to keep flying through willpower alone. And they had lost their supplies in the initial ambushes, so grabbing something to eat wasn't possible. It was a bad sign. Eve wasn't ready to fight, not something like them, not a Shadow. She was a lot stronger than before, there was no denying that, but no where near enough to handle the supernatural beings born from nightmares.

It was his fault, the kitten sighed, tail drooping, it was his fault she was there. He'd led her to the forest when he could have taken her somewhere else. There were many places, what the hell had possessed him to think this was one of those rare safe ones. It was his mistake that brought them here, his mistake that nearly got them killed... again. It was like in Lavender, his damned foolishness was getting them into trouble. He was going to get her killed, just like Mewtwo, just like Blacky, Dione and just like everyone else that had come before.

It had always been like that, he sighed to himself. The last of his kind, born when his race was dying out, always been surrounded with the devestat-

"_Oh for the love of crap, would you snap out of that damn pity spree and focus for five minutes?!_" The sudden telepathic shout snapped Mew back to the real world, the kitten looking across, past Eve to meet Celebi's eyes for a moment.

"_Since when do you care?_" He stuck to telepathy too, seeing as Eve had already yelled at them to stop talking. And, telepathy wasn't exactly talking.

"_Mew, if you're off on your little world and a Shadow manages to get the jump on us, you're pretty much relying on me to stop it mauling you and your 'pet',_" the fairy pointed out.

"_But I can't do any-_"

"_It doesn't take any energy to listen, so I suggest you start. Both to me, and to those damn surroundings before something jumps out of those bushes and stabs you in the face._" Celebi turned away, returning to paying careful attention to the undergrowth,"_again, if you don't, you are relying on me. And you don't like me, I don't like you, so do you really want me being you and her's only defence?_"

"_She has a name,_" Mew growled slightly, getting a little annoyed with Celebi's callous remarks. Which was likely just what the green git had wanted.

"_Maybe I'll start caring when you start realise the fact you angsting could get her killed._"

That hit a mark. And the rock that suddenly levitated off the ground, before shooting straight at Celebi, made one too as it collided with his forehead with enough force to send him crashing to the floor.

"_Hey!_" Eve's cry went unheeded as her brother flung himself at the fairy, tail lashing. Only to come short, flailing, caught in Celebi's telekinetic grip.

"Better," the fairy smirked, trying not to laugh at Mew's attempts to break the psychic grasp.

Eve was moving to cuff the Legendary, to scold him for winding Mew up, but the act wasn't needed. Celebi's hold broke; Mew shot forward, pulling back a fist, ready to pummel the fairy into the dirt, when he came to a halt too. There it was, rustling bushes, and a sudden burst of the now-familiar shadowy aura that seemed to poison their senses. One had found them. No, the toxic feeling rapidly got stronger, it was more than one. A lot more.

Even Evetwo could sense it, or she had just noticed the sudden unease of her companions and just put two and two together. Either way, Mew could pick up a faint whimper, she hadn't wanted to have come across another Shadow anymore than he had. But what could he do to help? The answer became clear as a green paw grasped his own, snatching his attention to the fairy beside him. One who was glowing slightly, drawing energy from the forest around him and transferring it into Mew.

A nice little stamina boost, at the cost of letting the Shadow's pinpoint their position. Not that it mattered, Mew had his power back, and knew just how to use it.

"Eve," he spoke, snapping her out of her momentary shock, "Do what I tell you this time, okay?"

---

Celebi was suprised that the clone had agreed to listen to orders, disobedience seemed to be a common flaw amongst the Human-created anomalies. It seemed to be inherited from their base, who was in the middle of charging an attack when the group finally ran out of time. A group of three Mightyena came leaping out of the undergrowth, with the rest of the pack of Shadows not too far behind. A large barrier was enough to keep them out, but having three enemies throwing their weight against it, combined with the twisted power they posessed, it was not likely to hold long; even if it was a higher power generating it. A fact rapidly proven as the barrier started to crack and splinter.

Which, oddly enough, suited Mew's purposes just fine. Eve, however, was steadily backing away from the feral canines; right up against the edge of the shield. She was shaking slightly, fur frizzed in her growing terror. After all, one had nearly killed all three of them, how where they supposed to handle a group of them? One that was getting bigger as more and more of the cursed creatures burst onto the path. More Mightyena, mixed in with the odd instance of another species. An Arbok, a few Sneasel. And, most worryingly, a trio of Beedril.

Who proceeded to smash their stingers straight through the crumbling shield, causing it to finally shatter, and the rest of the Shadows to come piling in. Only to go flying straight back out from a psychic pulse from Celebi. But that was only another stall; only slowing the damned Pokemon down despite the fact it would have shattered bone on any normal being. And even then, it only bought a few seconds before one of the Sneasel lunged for the grass type.

"Mew, now would be a really good time!" He ordered, trying to evade the assault, feeling those claws actually tear into his shoulder.

Not that a pesky wound like that was enough to stop him, either, as he retaliated by grabbing the Shadow from behind before it's charge could carry it towards the panicky clone; swiftly throwing it at some of its brethren. Then, finally there was a near-intoxicating pulse of power, Mew holding onto a giant, insanely bright orb of solar energy. In the brief moment between the attack being primed and Mew firing it into the sky, Celebi used its prescence to give his already-formidable firepower a much-needed boost.

The Solarbeam nearly filled the entire path, its size being many times that of its caster. Every single one of the Shadow fiends were caught in its blast, forced almost out of sight before it ran out of steam. And exploded.

"_...Why didn't we use that plan before?_" Eve gawped at the giant plume of smoke that blanketed the horizon.

"Because that didn't kill 'em," Mew growled.

"_You are kidding, you have to be kidding!_" There was no way that was physically possible. Not even Mewtwo could have taken that blast head on.

"Yes, pumpkin, we were just messing with you; Those things aren't going to come out and tear us all to pieces if you don't just stop yapping and run," Celebi cut in, wings flickering before he shot off down the path away from the crater.

Mew gave Eve a push, herding her along the path too. She resisted for only half a second, after which several shapes in the distance burst out of the smoke. Those canines again. And, right behind them, the Beedrill. Eve shot off like a missile, flying just above the ground to save the risk of tripping, and allowing her just a little extra speed. Not that it was any match for the elder psychics, the smaller Legendaries easily able to keep ahead of her. Until Mew shot a glance at Celebi, who slowed down enough to take the rear of the group.

Which proved handy, because the Shadows were gaining. Their speed enhanced along with their strength, giving them more than enough power to rapidly close the gap on the three. Even volleys of psybeams and the like from the time-traveller wasn't enough to slow them down. Not to mention that they wouldn't tire, which could not be said for the feline psychics. Mew was rapidly starting to lag, his reserves having been used in powering the Sunny Day. Eve soon grabbed hold of her brother, trying to summon just a little more speed. A little more strength, something to keep her ahead of their assailants.

But it just wasn't coming, the gap was next to nothing. If she looked, which she was afraid to do, she would have seen that the beings had nearly caught up with Celebi. And he had only been a few meters behind her, and was still managing to match her pace despite having to fend off constant assaults from the mockeries of life that seeked their end. Then, just as the mass lunged, a giant storm of leaves formed around the fairy, seemingly appearing out of nowhere and producing a bladed shield that forced them back.

The attacks were starting to wear him down, however. For the first time in centuries, Celebi was panting for breath, even as he fired the Leaf Storm straight into their midst. The many razor sharp leaves were enough to give the trio some distance again. But Eve was exausted, she couldn't go much further. It was starting to look hopeless, until she noticed something. Something very odd, both Mew and Celebi were smiling. Her brother noticed her shocked glance and just pointed up.

Right above them, above the treetops, the giant glowing orb, flickering with fiery potency. And then Mew finally elaborated on it's true function.

"It's not a normal Sunny Day, it's a beacon. We just called in some air support."

"_Air support-_" her question was cut off at the sudden explosion coming from above, way above, like the very top of the planet. There was this horrid roaring noise rapidly getting louder, until another of Celebi's barriers formed and blocked out the deafening sound, the nigh-unbearable heat.

And the massive shockwaves as the meteor struck, right in the middle of the group of Shadows. The barrier having to block out the blinding light, even as it rippled and nearly tore apart from the rock's impact. For what seemed like forever, Eve crouched inside the energy-shell, clutching at her brother in both awe and fright. Celebi was shaking too, more under the strain of keeping them protected from the lethal assault going on outside. Which, just as suddenly as it started, stopped.

The barrier faded away, revealing that very little of the surroundings were left. The forest pulverized, only on the horizion did it seem that there were even tree-trunks left. The ground naught but a crater, the lone patch that had been protected in the barrier being the exception, slowly coming down from its hover at the edge of the crater. Eve, shakily, made it back onto ground, which was still hot enough to force her to levitate herself just to avoid burns.

"_W-what was that?!_"

"That," Mew was looking genuinly happy for the first time in forever, "was Jirachi."

"_Who?_" Eve gawped, the name was familiar... Mew just pointed with his tail again, this time into the smoke caused by the impact.

The whole group turned to stare as a bright glow soon blew apart the black smog, revealing the tiny Legendary herself. Tags fluttering in the breeze, or the after-shockwaves, paws brushing herself down; Jirachi looked right back at them.

"Hello, sorry I'm a little late."

...That was what just leveled half of the forest?!


End file.
